Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps she is taking to help secure critical mineral supply chains.

We are committed to improving the resilience of critical mineral supply chains. Our Critical Minerals Strategy sets out a wide range of steps we are taking, which will help us accelerate the UK’s domestic capabilities, collaborate with international partners and enhance international markets.

On 13th March 2023 the Government published a Critical Minerals Refresh to take stock of the changing global landscape, highlight progress to date, and set out our refreshed approach to delivering all aspect of the Critical Minerals Strategy for UK businesses. As part of this, we are launching an independent Task & Finish Group to investigate critical mineral dependencies, vulnerabilities, and opportunities across UK industry sectors.

Through the Critical Minerals Strategy, HMG will accelerate growth of the UK’s domestic capabilities; collaborate with international partners; and enhance international markets to make them more responsive, transparent and responsible.